


Family Is The Most Important Thing In The World.

by CristinaBlackthornKingson



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Aunts & Uncles, Babysitting, Bedtime Stories, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Female Character of Color, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexuality, Brother-Sister Relationships, Brotherhood, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Character of Color, Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Canon Queer Character of Color, Childhood, Childhood Memories, Children's Stories, Engagement, F/F, F/M, Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Female Character of Color, Gay, Gay Male Character, Grandmothers, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Guitars, Halloween, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Female Character of Color, M/M, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, Motherhood, Multi, Musical Instruments, Musical References, Musicals, Orchestra, Other, Paranormal, Protective Siblings, Sibling Love, Siblings, Sisters, Uncle-Nephew Relationship, Violins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26339614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CristinaBlackthornKingson/pseuds/CristinaBlackthornKingson
Summary: 2 years after getting together, Henry and Alex are left in charge of their nephew George for the day, for the first time.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz & June Claremont-Diaz, Alex Claremont-Diaz & Nora Holleran, Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Arthur Fox & Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Arthur Fox/Catherine Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Beatrice Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Martha Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Philip Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, June Claremont-Diaz/Nora Holleran, June Claremont-Diaz/Nora Holleran/Percy "Pez" Okonjo, Martha Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor/Philip Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Nora Holleran/Percy "Pez" Okonjo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 78





	Family Is The Most Important Thing In The World.

It is a warm and sunny August day in London, 2022, when Henry and Alex are left in charge of their 2 year old nephew George, Martha and Philip’s son. 

Martha had approached them to ask them to babysit, just a few hours ago. Normally George’s nanny (a woman named Jenny) would take care of him, but she had suddenly come down with a bout of food poisoning just hours before she was meant to arrive at Kensington to look after George, while Philip and Martha attend a charity event for the counselling center that provides free therapy to any and everyone, that they opened just before George was born. 

Of course Martha and Philip could have arranged for another nanny to look after their son, but didn’t like the idea of leaving him with someone unfamiliar, so decided to ask Henry and Alex, undoubtedly George’s favorite people, he adores his Uncles and will have a wonderful time with them.

Henry and Alex were more than happy to agree to watch George for the day, and are currently keeping him occupied while Martha and Philip wait for their car to take them to the event. 

“Okay I just want to check one more time, you have both mine and Pip’s numbers, you have George's pediatrician’s number, you know he’s allergic to fish, and you know he needs to go down for a nap around 3:00, right?” Martha double checks, anxious about leaving George, even though she knows he’ll be perfectly happy with his Uncles and will probably hardly even notice she’s gone. 

“You know Martha, I just came here to have a good time and I’m honestly feeling so attacked right now, you think I don’t know how to look after your precious son? I am hurt!” Alex exclaims in a mock tone, placing his hand over his heart and frowning, while Martha laughs and rolls her eyes. 

“You’ll be the death of me Alex, you really will.” Martha laughs. Alex grins. 

“You love me really, right Georgie my little buddy? Doesn’t your mom love me really?” Alex replies, catching his nephew when the little boy takes a running jump at him. It’s George’s favorite game to play with Alex, they’ll stand on opposite sides of the room, then George will run as fast as he can to his Uncle, who will catch him when he jumps at him, and lift him up in the air, making George laugh his little head off. 

“Car’s here Maz.” Philip interrupts, laying a hand on his wife’s arm. “Alright mate, mummy and I will be back soon, you have a good time with your Uncles, don’t be too harsh on them. Love you.” Phillip leans in to kiss his son goodbye, on the cheek. 

“Yes you be good for your Uncles, Georgie.” Martha warns, accepting a sloppy kiss on the cheek and a quick hug from George. 

“So.” Alex says, shifting George in his arms after Philip and Martha leave. “What should we do now?” He’s never looked after a child for this long before, he’s watched George for an hour or two before, but never for almost the full day, he’s not sure what to do to keep him amused. 

“Take him to the p-a-r-k?” Henry suggests, spelling the word out so George won’t get his hopes up and then be disappointed if they decide not to go the park. Alex nods. 

“Sure, sounds good.”

Since it’s a nice day out, they decide to walk to the park 10 minutes away from The Palace, with George in his pushchair, smiling at every person they pass like the cheerful and friendly little boy he is. 

When they arrive at the park, George makes a beeline for the slide, but once he reaches the top he seems hesitant to go down. 

“George.” Henry softly says, standing next to the slide so he can see his nephew. “What’s wrong?” 

“Scared.” George quietly replies, eyeing the slide nervously. It looks awfully big to a 2 year old. 

“Do you want me to hold your hand?” Henry offers. George shakes his head. “No? How about I go down with you then? You sit in my lap and we’ll go down together, how does that sound?” George’s face lights up and he nods in delight. 

While Henry gets himself and George situated, Alex quickly takes out his phone and snaps as many pictures as he can, then sending them to the group chat that he’s in with Henry, Nora, Bea, June and Pez. 

_**‘My two favorite Princes ❤️**_ ” Alex captions the photo. 

“ _ **I’m telling Philip, he’s going to be so hurt.”**_ Bea shoots back almost immediately. Alex just laughs and puts his phone back in his pocket. 

After a few more goes on the slide, George loses interest and now wants to go on the swings, only problem being that he’s too little for the swings in this particular park.

“I’m not sure these swings are safe for you, mate.” Henry tells George in an anxious tone, not wanting to upset and disappointed him but also not wanting to put him in harm’s way.

“We can do what you did on the slide, I can sit on the swing and control it and George can sit on my lap.” Alex offers. 

“Good idea love, that alright with you Georgie?” Henry asks, looking down at his nephew. George nods vigorously. 

A few minutes later, Henry is watching Alex and George swing back and forth, both grinning in delight and George giggling loudly, which in turn makes Alex laugh. 

Wanting to capture this moment forever, Henry grabs his phone and snaps a series of pictures of his boyfriend and nephew, and sends them to the group chat.

**_‘Don’t know who’s enjoying it more, George or Alex_**.’ Henry adds, after sending the photos. 

“ ** _It’s fine I didn’t need my heart anyway, it’s fine in a melted puddle 😭"_** Pez replies.

_**“I gotta say it, you two so suit having a baby!’**_ Nora texts, causing Henry’s heart to flutter at the thought of having children of his own with Alex. 

Henry puts his phone away and glances at the gates that lead into the park, doing a double take when sees Bea walking in, dressed in a black t-shirt with a black leather jacket over it, dark blue jeans and plain black high-heeled ankle boots. 

“Bea? What are you doing here?” Henry asks in a confused tone, as his sister approaches he, Alex and George. As far as he was aware Bea was busy all day today, which is why she wasn’t able to watch George for Martha and Philip. 

“I’m on my way to an NA meeting but I’m a bit early so when I saw your messages in the group I thought I’d stop by for a few minutes on my way to my meeting.” Bea explains, crouching down to accept a hug from George, who is very excited to see his Aunty. Bea is cool and fun aunty who buys him lots of toys and sweets and lets him stay up past his bedtime, and takes him to the theater as often as she can, George may only be 2 but he’s seen more shows than Henry has in his whole life, thanks to Bea.

“Aren’t you worried someone will spot you and take pictures of you going to an NA meeting? Not that you should be ashamed of course, but you know, with how cruel and nasty the media has been to you before, I would be worried about being spotted.” Alex asks, as Bea stands up with George in her arms. Beas shrugs. 

“No not really, I’m really open and honest about my addiction so if I’m spotted going into an NA meeting it’s fine, let the media think what they want about me, I don’t care about them. Oh! I got a callback for violin for the Heathers orchestra!” Bea excitedly exclaims. Over the past while she’s had a lot of free time, even with all her charity work, and so decided she wanted to put her music degree to use and audition for a few West-End orchestras, the most recent being for Heathers, which has been running on the West-End for just over a year now. 

“Really? That’s wonderful! When is the next audition?” Henry asks, delighted for his sister and so proud of her, he hopes this is easier for her than it’s been for him to get a book published. He’s decided to write under a pseudonym so that he’ll know that publishers are interested in his work, and not his title as Prince of Wales. It’s been difficult trying to write his first novel, he couldn’t do it without Alex by his side to always encourage him and bring him tea and coffee when he’s up late writing, or bringing David in for cuddles and pets to calm him down.

“Next week, I can hardly wait!” Bea excitedly tells them. 

“Have you told your Gran yet? If not can I be there when you do? Please? I want to see the look on her face!” Alex asks in an amused tone, knowing that The Queen will not be pleased with Bea’s decision to take up a ‘Commener’s’ job, though she’ll probably be at least somewhat pleased that Bea has auditioned for first chair violin and not guitar. 

“She knows, mum told her, but she hasn’t been talking to me since I made that video talking about my experience in rehab.” Bea says in an exasperated tone, rolling her eyes at the memory of her grandmother’s ranting and raving and demanding Bea take the video down and not speak another word about her addiction, to the public. 

“Seriously? Not talking to you? Even George is more mature than that!” Alex replies, indicating George who is now chasing a bird around the park.

“I know, she’s ridiculous, but we are talking about the woman who berated Martha for having a C-section because George was in a literally impossible position for anything but a C-section. I’m long past caring what Gran thinks.” Bea shrugs. She has long since stopped caring about her grandmother’s thoughts and opinions on her, she’ll never love Bea for who she is, so why should Bea make the effort of maintaining a relationship with her? 

“I think we all are, Philip’s constantly battling her on not putting George in the public eye, I’m always avoiding her and her homophobia.” Henry sighs, wishing his Gran weren’t such a horrible person.

“Oh well she’ll probably be dead in a few years, then mum will be Queen and we won’t have to put up with this shite.” Bea casually says, making Alex burst out laughing and shocking Henry. He isn’t fond of his grandmother at all but he wouldn’t talk so casually about her death. 

“Bea!” Henry scolds in a horrified tone. 

“What?! I’m just stating facts, we’re all going to die one day, it’s just that Gran will probably die sooner than you or me.” Bea defends herself with a shrug. “Anyway I best be going, don’t want to be late for my meeting. Love you both.” Bea leans up to kiss her brother on the cheek, then turns and gives Alex a kiss on the cheek too. 

“Why can’t June be as nice as you? She shows her affection toward me by calling me a dumbass!” Alex asks, as Bea gives George a huge and kiss goodbye. 

“That’s because you are a dumbarse, Bea’s just too nice to say it.” Henry teases. 

“Listen to them Georgie, bickering like an old married couple already huh?” Bea says in a light tone, before blowing a raspberry on her nephew’s cheek making him scream with laughter. “I gotta go now, you make sure your Uncles don't get into too much trouble, won’t you?” George, still giggling, nods and gives Bea a final hug goodbye. 

“See you later, love you.” Henry says, as Bea stands up to leave. 

“Love you too, good luck keeping our nephew alive.” 

A few minutes after Bea leaves, Henry and Alex notice that George has made friends with a little girl who looks to be around his age, they seem to be having a great time together so Henry and Alex take a seat on one of the park benches, next to a woman who looks to be in her thirties, with long brown hair and pale skin.

“He’s adorable, how old is he?” The woman asks, incling her head towards George. 

Her accent indicates she’s not from England or America, and her calm behaviour around Henry and Alex indicates that she doesn’t know she’s sitting with and having a conversation with a Prince and The FSOTUS. 

Henry beams proudly, always loving when people compliment George. 

“Yes he is, isn’t he? He’s 2, just turned 2 in June.” Henry replies. 

“Oh they’re always so much fun at this age! My daughter is just a few months younger than him, she was born in October so she’s not quiet 2 yet, but I have another little girl at home who’s 4, and the toddler stage is without a doubt my favorite.” The woman tells them, smiling the whole time. 

“I miss when he couldn’t run away from me when I was trying to tell him to do something.” Alex chips in with a deadpan tone. Henry grins and the woman laughs. 

“I know that feeling!” She then turns to Henry and says “He looks just like you, is he your first?” Henry and Alex share a confused look, that’s a very odd question to ask someone. 

“Uh yes, and only, so far.” Henry replies, trying to keep his tone polite and not show his confusion. 

“Do you mind me asking, was he adopted or did you have a surrogate? My partner and I want another but I can’t carry anymore, so we’re looking into other options.” The woman quietly asks. The question shocks and astounds Henry and Alex for a minute, they have no idea what to say.

“Uh.” Alex says in a hoarse voice, after a few seconds. “He’s not ours, I mean he’s not our son.” 

“Oh.” The woman says, her cheeks starting to flush red. 

“He’s our nephew, my brother’s his dad.” Henry informs her. He almost wants to tell her that George is also third in line to the throne, right ahead of Henry himself. 

“Oh I see, I’m so sorry, it’s just he looks so much like you and when I saw you both playing with him earlier you just looked like the perfect little family, I’m sorry.” The woman apologies in a meek, embarrassed tone. 

“No need to be sorry, easy mistake to make.” Henry kindly says, smiling at the woman, a little part of him liking that some may think that he, George and Alex are a family.

Alex, Henry and George stay at the park for about a half an hour longer, during which time Alex and Henry decide to drop in to Ivy Cottage at Kensington where Catherine is now living, and visit her. They saw her when she was with Bea when they arrived in England a week ago, but haven’t seen her much since, so it will be nice to spend some time with her.

It’s only a ten minute walk from the park to Ivy Cottage, and when Catherine answers the door after Henry knocks, her face lights up at the sight of the 3 of them. 

“Oh hello my loves!” She happily exclaims, accepting a hug from Henry and Alex both, as well as George. “It’s so good to see you, come in come in, would you like to stay for lunch?” Catherine offers, gesturing for them to come in and leading them down the corridor. 

“That’d be lovely mum.” Henry says, looking over his shoulder when Alex turns back to stop George from climbing up the stairs, one of his favorite past times now he’s finally mastered the stairs.

“No Pip and Mazzy? Or Bea?” Catherine asks, as Alex catches up to them with George on his shoulders, just as they arrive in the kitchen where Catherine was clearly in the middle of making lunch. 

“No, Philip and Martha are at a charity event and Bea’s busy today, that’s why Alex and I have George, we’re babysitting.” Henry explains, closing the door behind him so George can’t get out and lose himself in the halls of the place.

“Oh that’s nice, have you had a good day so far?” Catherine asks, glad that Henry and Philip have a much better and healthier relationship now, than they have had in years, especially since George came along, and really helped heal the rift between the brothers. 

“Pretty good, we’ve been at the park most of the morning, someone who didn’t recognize any of us thought George was our kid.” Alex laughs, finally able to sit down when George occupies himself with his iPad that Henry and Alex brought just incase, according to Martha and Philip the iPad is a life saver and they never leave anywhere without it. 

“I can’t say I’m surprised, with all that blonde hair and those big blue eyes, he looks just like you Henry, he’s like your little twin when you were that age.” Catherine says in a soft tone. Looking at her grandson sitting on the kitchen floor, Catherine feels as though it really wasn’t that long ago that the little blonde boy sitting in the kitchen with her, was Henry, now he’s all grown up and though she could not be more proud of him, she can’t deny missing the times when he was little, when life was much easier.

After lunch, Catherine disappears into the living room for a few minutes while (at their insistence) Henry and Alex wash and dry the dishes. When she comes back a few minutes later, she’s holding a large white binder-like object, that is clearly packed full of pages.

“Gandma, what that?” George curiously asks, pointing at the binder, 

“This, sweet Georgie, is one of our family photo albums. Do you know what’s in here?” Catherine softly asks, setting the binder down on the kitchen table as George clambers up onto a chair beside her. George shakes his head. “There’s pictures of our family, of your mummy and daddy, and your Uncle Henry and Aunty Bea, and your grandpa and I, and even some of you as a very small baby, would you like to see?” George nods eagerly. 

“Me too, I wanna see Henry’s baby pictures!” Alex says in an amused tone, setting the tea-towel down and joining Catherine and George at the table. 

“Oh God no!” Henry groans, knowing there are some embarrassing pictures of him in there, from when he was little. 

“Oh hush Henry, you were an adorable child, it will be lovely for Alex to see.” Catherine says, opening the album. 

The first picture is of a much younger Catherine and Arthur, on their wedding day, just outside Westminster Abbey, arm in arm and grinning madly at the camera. 

Catherine’s hair is perfectly curled, stopping just above her shoulders. Her makeup is light but perfect. Her white veil is about 2 feet long, stretching out behind her and beyond the view of the camera.

Her dress is fitted at the bodice, made of beautiful plain white material, then flares out like a ballgown, at the skirt, with lace interwoven in all the perfect places. In one hand she clutches a large arrangement of white flowers, and her other arm is linked through with Arthur's, who is dressed in a blues and royals uniform, his blonde hair slicked back and his face full of joy and happiness.

“What an iconic power couple, we stan.” Alex notes, nodding approvingly as he looks at the picture. 

“I didn’t understand a word of that but thank you!” Catherine says with a smile. She then turns to George and rests a hand on his back. “Georgie my love, do you know who this is?” She asks, pointing to Arthur, in the photo. George smiles and nods enthusiastically. 

“Gandad!” He exclaims, recognizing his grandfather from the pictures and videos Philip has shown him all his life. 

“That’s right my love, you look just like him, you and your Uncle Henry.” Catherine softly says, running a hand through George’s thick blonde hair. She so desperately wishes Arthur were here, to see their beautiful first grandchild, to see the amazing people their children have become, to help Catherine keep her mother from doing any more harm, and to just enjoy life, like they always did. 

“More!” George exclaims, pointing at the photo album. Catherine smiles and turns the page, to reveal two older photos, taken about 10 years after the wedding photo. 

The first picture is of Catherine, dressed in a baby blue hospital gown and white socks, her hair is the same length as it was in the wedding photos. She is standing by a hospital bed and with one hand has smoothed the hospital gown down around her midsection to reveal a sizeable bump. With the other hand, she is giving the camera the thumbs up, and grinning. 

The next picture is also of Catherine, though this time she is sitting up in the hospital bed, her hair thrown back in a messy bun, and the biggest smile on her face. In her arms she cradles a tiny bundle of blue and white blankets. Within the blankets you can clearly see a small round face, with big blue eyes and a thatch of blonde hair. Underneath the photos, the following captions are written in Catherine’s swirling handwriting. 

_**‘3rd time's the charm, no need for induction this time, baby is ready to come all on their own! Last pregnancy, last birth, last baby. Let’s do this!’**_

_**‘Born at 1:04 P.M. on March 12th, 1997, weighing 6lbs 10oz and measuring 24 inches long, our last baby, our beautiful and perfect baby boy, Henry George Edward James Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor. We love you Henry.’** _

“Oh. My. God.” Alex breathes in disbelief, when he sees the pictures. “No. Way!! Henry you were so cute oh my god I cannot handle it!” He exclaims, grabbing Henry by the arm, who is turning bright red with embarrassment. 

“It was only a matter of time before you saw one of my baby pictures, wasn’t it?” Henry sighs. Alex nods. 

“And I am so glad I get to see one now! Look, you were so tiny and small and oh my god Henry if our kids are that cute I don’t think my heart will be able to handle it, I’m just gonna cry every time I see them because they’re going to be so. damn. cute.!!” Alex exclaims, dragging his hands down through his hair, almost sobbing right here and now at the thought of a baby that he and Henry will get to love and raise, who looks just like Henry did. 

“You’re so bloody dramatic.” Henry sighs. Alex gasps and turns to Catherine. 

“Cat, you know how you’re the best mom-in-law ever?” He asks, making Catherine suspicious of what he’s about to ask her for. 

“Yes.” She says in a suspicious tone. 

“Can I please take a picture of these pictures, on my phone, and send them to June, Nora, Bea, and Pez? Please?” Alex begs, knowing his sister and friends are also going to freak out at how adorable baby Henry was. 

“Yes love, go ahead.” Catherine says with a light laugh. Alex grins and quickly snaps a few shots, before sending them to the group chat.

**_‘Look at this adorableness! I cannot handle it right now!’_** Almost immediately, a reply comes through from Bea. 

**_“If you want to some real cuteness ask mum to show you_ my _baby photos, I was the cutest of the three of us.”  
_**

Alex laughs lightly and looks up from his phone.

“Bea says to show me her baby pictures because she was the cutest out of her, Henry and Philip.” He says. Catherine laughs lightly and turns a few pages. 

“She was my trouble maker, she gave us quite the shock because Philip was so calm and easy-going, whereas Bea was walking by 9 months, talking by 8 months, climbing out her crib by 10 months and climbing the stairs and opening doors just after her first birthday.” She says in an amused tone, coming to a stop at a page with three pictures on it. 

The first is another picture of Catherine standing by a hospital bed, she looks a little bit younger than she did in the picture where she was pregnant with Henry. This time she is dressed in a dusty pink hospital gown. She has smoothed the gown down around her midsection with both hands, to show off her 9 month bump. She is beaming into the camera with a look of both excitement and relief on her face. Underneath the picture Catherine has written 

**_‘Baby no. 2, here we go! 42 weeks and 3 days, finally being induced and ready to meet our princess!’_ **

The picture next is once again of Catherine sitting up in a hospital bed, her hair down around her shoulders though a lot messier than in the first photo. 

In the photo Catherine is beaming down at a bundle of light pink and white blankets in her arms. You can clearly see little Bea, her round and pudgy face with Catherine’s nose, mouth and bone structure, while she has Arthur’s eye shape and pallor. You can also see her mop of dark brown hair just like her mother’s, and her eyes wide open, blue eyes the same as her brothers. 

Catherine has captioned this photo 

‘ ** _Little Beatrice decided to give us a surprise and turn transverse at the last minute, which resulted in a C-section. Not what I planned and recovery will be tough, but all so worth it for our little Princess. Beatrice Amelia Elizabeth Jane Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, born July 12th 1994 at 4:07 A.M. 7lbs 8oz and 22 inches long. We love you Bea.’_**

The last picture has neither Catherine nor Arthur in it. It is taken in the same spot the previous photo was, but this time there is a little blonde boy of about 3, sitting back against the headboard of the bed, smiling proudly at the camera as he carefully holds a little brunette baby who is dressed in a pink onsie and is gazing up at her brother with big blue eyes. Alex doesn’t even have to look at the caption to know who the toddler and baby are. 

“Oh my god.” Alex says. “Is that Philip and Bea?” Catherine grins and nods.

“Their first time meeting, Bea was only 9 hours old in that picture, she loved Philip right away and vice-versa, he loved being a big brother and protecting her, I think that’s where Bea got her urge to be so protective of Henry.” She tells them, her heart warming at the memories of her children being so young and close. 

“This is so mortifying, when we go back to America I’m asking your mum _and_ your dad to show me _your_ baby pictures.” Henry groans. Alex laughs and shrugs. 

“Yeah good luck with that, mom doesn’t have the time and dad will keep you there for days telling you stories about June and I when we were little.” 

Henry, Alex and George stay a while longer, looking through some more baby and childhood photos of the 3 Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor siblings. (Alex particularly enjoys seeing Henry’s christening photos, which contain a lot of 2 month old Henry in a big frilly white dress and matching bonnet.) before deciding to head back to Kensington and get George down for his nap before Philip and Martha come home in a few hours. 

Thankfully it doesn’t take long for them to get George down for his nap, he seems tired after his excursions at the park, and once Alex has read him a story, the little fella just conks right out, leaving his Uncles to grab a cup of tea and a cup of coffee, and sit and talk quietly for the first time since Martha and Philip left. 

“George really loved your story, you have a knack for it. Did your parents tell you a lot of stories when you were little?” Henry curiously asks Alex, wanting to know more about his childhood. Alex nods. 

“Mostly dad, but mom did too. Dad would tell us stuff about Mexico and his childhood and how he met mom and stuff.” Alex pauses then and smiles. “At Halloween, every year from when I was about 7 and June was 10, dad would tell us the story of La Llorona, scared the shit out of us.” 

“What’s the story of La Llorona?” Henry curiously asks, having never heard of it before. 

“It’s a creepy urban legend ghost story kinda thing. It’s most prominent in Latin countries, and has a lot of different variations, but this is the one my dad would tell us.

The story goes that a long time ago there was a beautiful woman who married a very handsome man and had 2 children with them.

They had a wonderful marriage, until she became jealous of how her husband payed more attention to their children than to her. Then she found out that he was cheating on her and he left her for a more beautiful woman. 

This drove her to despair, and in a moment of madness, to get back at her husband, she drowned her children in the river. It’s said that when she died and went to heaven, god refused her entry and sent her back down to earth to look for her drowned children, only once they were found could she enter.

So the legend goes that La Llorona roams the shores of oceans and other bodies of water, howling, moaning, looking for her children. And if you draw her attention by being loud or naughty, she’ll get you and drown you too.

The first time dad told us that story mom was so mad at him, I slept in their bed for about a week, and June did too. Still scares the shit out of me today.” 

“Bloody hell.” Henry breaths, a little bit frightened himself, after hearing that. Before Alex can respond they hear a rustling in the doorway, making them both jump. When they turn to see who it is, their hearts sink when they see it’s George, looking at them wide eyed and intrigued. 

“Shit.” Alex swears under his breath. 

“Hey mate, what are you doing up, I thought you were asleep?” Henry gently asks, hoping George didn’t hear Alex’s story. George shakes his head and turns to look at Alex. 

“Again!” He exclaims. “Tell story again! One you tell Uncle Henry!” So he did hear it, but evidently it didn’t bother him. Still, it’s probably best not to tell it to him again. 

“How about we watch T.V. instead?” Alex suggests. George grins and nods, immediately forgetting about the scary story. 

Two hours later, Martha and Philip arrive home, looking tired but pleased. 

“I missed you so much!” Martha exclaims, lifting George up and kissing his cheek. 

“As did I, it was all very boring without you Georgie!” Philip lightly says, tickling his son lightly, making his giggle and squirm. 

“Was he good for you?” Martha anxiously asks Henry and Alex, knowing what a handful George can be at times.

“Good as gold.” Henry tells her.

“What did you get up to today?” Philip asks, taking George from Martha when George reaches for him. 

“Not much, we went to the park for an hour and then had lunch with mum, she showed Alex our baby pictures.” Henry says, blushing again at the memory of Alex seeing his baby pictures. 

“Y’all are giving me and June some serious competition for cutest sibling team.” Alex laughs.

“Weren’t they just adorable? And George is the image of Pip when he was little.” Martha says in a fond tone, slipping her arm through Philip’s and resting her head on his shoulder. Philip smiles and presses a kiss to the top of her head. 

“And Henry, someone at the park today thought George was our kid because he looks so much like Henry.” Alex delightedly informs them, as George wriggles to be set down, and runs out of the room towards his bedroom, when Philip sets him down. 

“You two do look very alike, especially as you’re getting older Henry, you look more and more like Philip all the time.” Martha says. 

“Lucky me.” Henry dead-pans. Before Philip can reply, they hear a crash coming from the direction George’s bedroom is in. 

“I best go see what he’s up to.” Philip says, giving Martha a quick kiss before slipping out of the room to go see what George is doing now.

A few minutes later, Philip returns, looking not very pleased at all. 

“Alex.” He calmly says. “Do you mind telling me why my son is talking about a story about a crying ghost woman who drowned her children before she died and now roams the world looking for them and drowns naughty children?” Alex pales and Henry covers his face with his hand, in embarrassment. 

“I didn’t mean for him to hear it! I told him a story before we tried to put him down for a nap, and while we thought he was asleep Henry and I were up here talking and he asked about the stories my dad told June and I when we were little, so I told him how at Halloween dad would always tell us the story of La Llorona, and just after I finished telling Henry that story, we heard George in the doorway.

I’m so sorry, but George wasn’t at all scared and actually wanted me to tell it again, but obviously I didn’t.” Alex hurriedly explains himself. Philip just sighs and shakes his head. 

“Well if he’s up all night tonight terrified of this story, we’re sending him into you two and you can deal with him all night.” He says, giving the boys a pointed look. Alex nods. 

“That’s fair.”

The four of them talk for another while, before Martha and Philip decide to try and get George down for a late nap.

While Martha and Philip are busy with George, Henry and Alex decide to go out for dinner that evening, have a date night. 

Thankfully the weather is still good, so they walk from the palace to a nearby restaurant and have a very pleasant evening and meal. 

When they get back to Kensington they head straight for their room, worn out from looking after George all day.

When they arrive in the room, Alex throws himself into one of the armchairs in the corner of the room, and takes his phone out to text his mom and let her know how he’s getting on in England and to tell her that he and Henry say hi and that they love her. 

Alex gets a text back from his mom a few minutes later saying she’s glad to hear that he’s having a good time in England and that she loves he and Henry too. Alex smiles at his phone, then clicks it shut and looks up to see what Henry is at. 

When he looks up his heart leaps into his mouth and he loses his breath instantly, because right there before him, down on one knee with a velvet red box open in his hands revealing a silver ring with a square black jewel in the middle, glinting in the fading sunlight, is Henry.

“Hen?” Alex asks in a breathless tone, moving to the edge of his seat to be closer to Henry. 

“Alex.” Henry quietly says. “I had a whole speech planned out for this, I’ve been planning it for months, but now I’m finally doing it I can’t recall a word of the speech, all I know is that I love you more than anything in the entire world, you are everything to me. Will you marry me?” Alex wastes no time in grabbing Henry’s face in his hands and kissing him, as tears roll down his face. He pulls back a few seconds later and nods. 

“Yes, absofuckingloutley yes.” 


End file.
